Belmont running may avoid the rain

There was concern on Friday afternoon about Saturday's weather forecast, which called for a 40- to 50-percent chance of thunderstorms beginning well before 11:35 a.m., first post for Belmont Park's 13-race card. At 4 p.m., less than 2 1/2 hours before the Belmont Stakes, the sun was still shining, the temperature was in the mid-80s, and no rain had fallen, which was a major highlight for the New York Racing Association.

According to the Weather Channel, chances were excellent that no rain would fall before the starting gates opened for the Belmont at approximately 6:32 p.m. The revised forecast (two words that often appear side by side) was for a 10-percent chance of precipitation until 7 p.m., when it would rise to 30 percent.

Upstate New York was not so lucky, because there was a tornado watch for 15 counties, including the Albany area, through 8 p.m.

The undercard

D'Funnybone, trained by Rick Dutrow, rallied for Edgar Prado to beat Discreetly Mine by 3¼ lengths in the Grade II Woody Stephens Stakes, the start of an all-stakes Pick 6 with a $129,962 carryover. D'Funnybone paid $4.40 after running 7 furlongs on a fast track in 1:22.64 ... Proviso ($4.20) held off Phola by a half-length in the Grade I Just A Game Stakes for fillies and mares. Bill Mott trains the winner, who went a mile under Mike Smith on a firm Widener turf course in 1:34.09 ... Bribon ($7.50) rallied wide with Garrett Gomez to take the Grade II True North Handicap by 1 1/2 lengths. Todd Pletcher trains the 7-year-old gelding, who ran 6 furlongs in 1:09.63.

Across the pond

Compared to England's most important 3-year-old classic, the Epsom Derby, the 143-year-old Belmont is a relative newcomer. Epsom Downs staged "the Blue Riband of the Turf" for the 241st time Saturday, when 6-1 shot Workforce dominated by 7 lengths for jockey Ryan Moore in the 1 1/2-mile race. Sir Michael Stoute trained his fifth Derby winner, and Moore rode his first. Front-runner At First Sight, a 100-1 shot, held for second behind Workforce, who was making only his third career start. Aidan O'Brien trains the runner-up as well as Vermeer, the 2-1 favorite who finished fourth.

Time travel

In 1821, a Parisian watchmaker named Nicolas Rieussec invented the chronograph - "time writer" as translated from Greek. It was accurate to a quarter of a second, which allowed precise clocking of individual horses in a race. There is no record of whether Rieussec was a horseplayer, but he could have become the first to create speed figures. If so, they might be known today as Rieussecs instead of Beyers.

Around the track

For the second consecutive year, Belmont Park will be dark the day after the Belmont Stakes. Racing will resume Wednesday ... A minor foot injury led to the scratch of Custom for Carlos, the morning-line favorite for the True North Handicap ... A single C-130, a cargo plane that was in use during the 1960s, flew over the track late in the morning during the singing of the national anthem.